A baby who was born extremely prematurely at only 23 weeks gestation has celebrated his first birthday after spending almost 4 months in hospital.
Baby Adam, the son of Anita Ibrahim-Goddard and Paul Goddard, was born in December at only 23 weeks gestation, weighing barely 800 grams.
Before Adam was born, though, the couple were about to celebrate their “babymoon” in the Cotswolds, and Anita started experiencing stomach pains, which she initially thought were “trapped wind”.
“I could just feel my tummy doing weird stuff, but I’m only 23 weeks pregnant, so never did it occur to me that these were contractions”, she said.
When her stomach pains did not stop, Anita became concerned, so she phoned the hospital, which told her to come in for a check-up. Once there, they told her that she had gone into labour and she was blue-lighted to Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, which had the equipment to deal with such an early birth.
Adam was born in the early hours of the morning and, because of his prematurity, he had a bleed in his brain, a hole in his heart, and chronic lung disease. A breech birth also led to him having a dislocated arm.
Adam’s parents had been trying to conceive for eight years, so when doctors told them that their baby might not survive being born at such an early stage, it was “heart-wrenching”.
Baby Adam remained in the hospital for 114 days, undergoing 19 blood transfusions, aggressive ventilation, morphine, sedatives, and many invasive procedures.
He received treatments in three separate hospitals and eventually began making improvements.
On his original due date, 23 March, he was discharged from hospital and allowed to go home. Now one year old, baby Adam is “smiling and loving life”.
Baby Adam was “heroic” during hospital stay
His mother, Anita, said her baby’s successes today can be attributed “to how heroic he was when he was in hospital”.
“He’s been through the wars already, now he just wants to enjoy life. It’s almost like he was fighting to be here, he absolutely wanted to be here”, she added.
Now that Adam is home, Anita said she doesn’t want him to be held back by events “he didn’t choose”, and the family is looking forward to the future together.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “We are delighted to hear that baby Adam is thriving at home and has celebrated his first birthday with his family”.
“His heroic nature showed in the hospital, and his courage are a testament to the strength of all premature babies”.
“We wish Adam and his parents all the best in the next chapter of their lives together”.
